The Munising Community History Project kicked off with a game of trivia on Friday, October 2nd at the East Channel Connection. We were happy to have 20-30 people come to play, including folks from Grand Marais through Chatham and Marquette, long term residents and more recent arrivals, and even a couple of tourists! 

The night kicked off with a brief speech from the co-founders of the new non-profit, Dr. Allie Penn and Wil Jakeway. Allie thanked everyone for coming, and reviewed the goals of the organization, which include outreach and community building, setting up a walking tour in Munising, and building digital projects to preserve oral histories and a digital map of the city with past businesses and residents. If you want to get involved with tours or oral histories, please email MunisingCommunityHistory@gmail.com or talk to one of the board members, Wil Jakeway, Allie Penn, Nolan Speer, Julie Tomasi, Suzette Carberry, or Billy Wall-Winkel. 

Trivia questions included questions ranging from the first white resident of Munising – Abraham Williams in 1840 – up to the 2023 Munising Mustangs basketball championship. There were questions about businesses in town, including the first car dealership – Munising Motors – and the Hayes’ Drug Store that closed in 1996. Locals had a clear advantage, but there were some easier questions – the first industries in town, and the name of the shipwreck in Murray’s Bay – that visitors could learn from a boat tour or the interpretive center.

The night was a great success. Laughter, chatting, and reminiscing were common themes between rounds. During the questions teammates were talking about the city, and shushing when someone said the answer too loud. No perfect scores were achieved, which means everyone could learn something new about Munising.

The next event by the Munising Community History Project will be a history talk on Lighthouse Keeper Adam B. Sayles, presented by NMU’s Evan Sparks. Join us at the East Channel Connection on Friday, November 6th at 7 pm!